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Cliffy B:
Post your finished profiles/stories here.

Acree:
Curtiss-Wright CW-21C floatplane versions of the Interceptor. 
In Ecuadoran and Netherlands East Indies' service...

Acree:
In the Spring of 1940, the Imperial Japanese Navy took advantage of their efforts at fostering relations with Peru to deploy a detachment of two H6K2 long-range reconnaissance flying boats to Peru.  The purpose of this detachment was to reconnoiter the Panama Canal, and ultimately to set up surveillance of the Canal and its approaches, for the primary purpose of tracking US Navy ships transiting.  A secondary task, not disclosed to their Peruvian hosts, was to gather intelligence for a possible attack on the Canal by Japanese carrier based aircraft and/or surface vessels.  The Peruvians, of course, depended greatly on the Canal for international commerce, especially with Europe and the US eastern seaboard, and would not have approved of any plan to attack and disable the Canal.  A final consideration was to determine the feasibility of interdicting US merchant or naval traffic from Peru using a larger force of long range aircraft from Peru (at and following an expected outbreak of hostilities between the US and Japan).

In June, 1940, two H6K2s commanded by Commander Masaharu Soto, arrived in Peru, following the ground element which had arrived in May aboard the Shigeno Maru along with six disassembled Mitsubishi C5M2 reconnaissance aircraft for the Fuerza Aerea Peruana.  The H6K2s were to be home-based at Ancón, the primary Fuerza Aerea Peruana seaplane base.  However, a small forward element was set up Puerto Pizarro.  H6Ks would fly from Ancón to Puerto Pizarro, refuel, take on a fresh crew and then depart for the 900 mile journey to the Canal, where they were able to remain on station for approximately eight hours before returning to Puerto Pizarro.

On most missions, a Fuerza Aerea Peruana representative joined the crew, though this was not always the case.  The H6Ks arrived in standard Japanese Navy markings, but the hinomarus were over-painted with Peruvian roundels before their first flights from Peru.

Detachment Soto's small force of H6K2s gathered a tremendous amount of intel for the Japanese Navy.  From the commencement of operations in July 1940 until February 1942, the operation remained unknown to US Forces.  In that month, the US became aware of the H6Ks, and repeatedly attempted intercepts by the P-40Es of the 29th Fighter Squadron based at Albrook Field in the Canal Zone.  However, these attempts remained unsuccessful.  Later, in August of 1942, the 29th moved to Simon Bolivar airport in Guayaquil, Ecuador, from where 1LT Edward "Ted" Harbison successfully intercepted and destroyed H6K2 number 1.  Following this loss, Detachment Soto was disbanded, and the remaining H6K2 was transferred to the Fuerza Aerea Peruana, where it was used to establish the FAP's first dedicated maritime reconnaissance squadron, 73 Escuadrilla de Informacion Marítimo, based at Ancón.  The forward base at Puerto Pizarro was abandoned, being only 100 miles from the US fighter base at Guayaquil.

The first drawing below shows the second H6K2 in the markings in which it operated as part of Detachment Soto.  The second drawing shows the same aircraft later in its career, after it had been transferred to the Peruvian Air Force's newly established 73 Escuadrilla de Informacion Marítimo. 

Acree:
In the first minutes of December 14, 1939, the German battle-cruiser Graf Spee dropped anchor in Montevideo harbor, having limped in after being badly damaged by the British Royal Navy's Force G in the Battle of the River Plate.  The British and German diplomatic delegations both worked hard to pressure neutral Uruguay - the British hoped to keep the still-dangerous ship bottled up until a stronger force led by HMS Ark Royal could arrive.  The Germans sought to obtain permission to do major repair and resupply of the Graf Spee in Montevideo.  Over the subsequent two years, the Germans managed to bring in some repair and replacement equipment as work on the ship proceeded very slowly.  Among the materials brought in were two Arado Ar 196A-3 floatplanes, intended to replace those destroyed during the battle.  These were erected and flown (in German markings) from the Uruguayan naval air base at Isla Libertad, ostensibly for test and training purposes.  In reality, these flights also served the purpose of protecting the Graf Spee from submarine attack.

The Graf Spee was finally sunk in harbor by a Royal Navy airstrike launched from HMS Argus and Ark Royal in November, 1941.  Subsequently, the two Arado floatplanes were turned over to the Uruguayan Navy, continuing to fly from Isla Libertad until the late 1940s.  They were repainted in Uruguayan colors and marked OP-1 and OP-2 (for observación and patrullaje).  OP-1 is shown in the drawing below:

Tophe:
I have invented many Seaplane versions of P-38 and P-51 at:
http://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=5139.0

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